The City， Seen from the circle of hills which surrounds the city，<br >Florence gives an impression of completeness of design， its medieval<br >and Renaissance architecture dominated by Brunelleschi s immense<br >terracotta dome erta sopra e cieli， ampla da coprire chon sua ombra<br >tucti e popoli toscanf ( Soaring above in the sky， large enough to<br >cover with its shadow all the Tuscan people }， as Leon Battista Alberti<br >described it in his Trattato della Pittura with its celebrated dedica-<br >tion to Fflippo di Ser Brunelhisco . The city is a perfect whole to<br >which nothing can be added or removed without altering the<br >harmony which it has been given by man over a span of about eight<br >centuries. In perhaps no other city are the intention of man and the<br >design of nature so bound up together. The city is born out of the<br >valley， its monuments enclosed by an amphitheatre of hills. Its<br >architecture has been created by the human mind in imitation of its<br >natural setting， and Brunelhischi cemented this relationship for ever<br >with his great cupola， a poetic masterpiece of engineering.<br > I advise any visitor， before penetrating the streets and piazze of the<br >city， to take himself without the city gates ， up onto the circle of hills，<br >so as to perceive the physical unity which embraces the spirit of<br >Florentine art， Probably the most remarkable of all Florentine views<br >is that from the hillside of Bellosguardo， approached by a winding<br >road from which the natural landscape can be seen blending with<br >that of thb city. The view from the top of the hill takes in the faqades<br >of the most important buildings in an almost unconscious summary of<br >the beauties of Florence， to paraphrase one of the oldest guides to the<br >city. Thousands of modest roofs covered by simple terracotta tiles<br >remind us of the humble but highly skilled craftsmanship which is<br >still an important characteristic of daily Ire in the city. Above these<br >rise the principal monuments of the city which testify to the presence<br >of exceptional artists， from the Romanesque period onwards， who<br >made Florence the centre to which the art world looked for inspira-<br >tion and guidance.<br >